Tar pollution on beaches: Who will compensate the country? - Walla! Business

2021-02-28T22:49:37.328Z

What is caused on the shores of Israel is an injustice and the perpetrators must be prosecuted. We know how it works in local authorities within state borders, but what is the process when it comes to international activity? Adv. Gil Harel explains

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Tar pollution on beaches: Who will compensate the country?

What is caused on the shores of Israel is an injustice and the perpetrators must be prosecuted.

We know how it works in local authorities within state borders, but what is the process when it comes to international activity?

Adv. Gil Harel explains

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An event on an extraordinary scale.

Tar is emitted in water (Photo: Nature and Parks Authority, Yigal Ben-Ari)

In addition, it is possible to use the option that existed even before the enactment of the Coastal Environment Protection Law, to take an administrative procedure, for the purpose of protecting the beaches as already proposed.

This procedure can be improved by granting status to organizations for the protection of the coastal environment (similar to the arrangement made in the Animal Welfare Act).

The idea is that in addition to the possibility of protecting the beaches through the administrative procedure, it will be possible to sue the violator in a tort claim which will be set alongside an incentive to sue and protect the beaches.

Both of these routes - both the administrative route and the tort route - will be designed to achieve the same goal and that is to maintain the narrow strip of coastline that we still have left.

The objectives of general tort law are to achieve prevention, effective deterrence, individual and social justice.

These goals should be included in the law and in light of formulating a judicial policy that will raise the required standard of conduct from potential violators.

This, while maintaining flexibility to examine the effectiveness of deterrence that will be achieved in the individual case, for example, through the use of the various mechanisms under the Coastal Law that provide flexibility and better decision-making ability.

Apart from efficiency and deterrence, a goal will be achieved which does not fall short of its importance, which is the internalization of the value of the right to the environment (and the coastal environment as a whole).

Many economists see ecological nuisances as a problem not only of the victims of the nuisance but a more general problem of inefficient allocation of resources in the economy, which arises because the violator / pest does not take into account the negative externalities of his actions.

By granting the right to a tort claim for violation of the law, an incentive (in the form of compensation) is given to the citizen to bring the matter of the violation to the courts, which helps the enforcement of the law.

Barcelona Convention for the benefit of Israel

There is progress in court rulings and even in corporate law when there is a need to present data on environmental protection.

The court ruled about six months ago that this responsibility of EPA (Eilat Ashkelon pipeline) also applies to the director by virtue of his involvement as the initiator of the contract and as having the authority to decide on the execution of the works, while aware of the possibility of coral damage. One, with a fine of NIS 50,000 and signing an undertaking to refrain from offenses in the amount of NIS 30,000.

In this matter, too, the claims of the EPA and the administration were rejected. It was determined that it is now possible to impose personal responsibility on the directors due to the company's activities.

You can see the activities of the clear association years appealed Daniel bulwark against the subcommittee Rave court prevented construction Palmachim beach. In addition, there are standards of environmental ISO14001 and -9001 constitute requirements in order to prevent damage to the environment such as sewage, waste, use of water and energy.

according to the findings obtained now, this is the An incident of environmental crime that occurred more than 50 kilometers off the coast of Israel and outside the territorial waters of the State of Israel, however, Israel is a party to the Barcelona Convention, according to which countries and ships are obligated to report any unusual incident, We learn from the media that there are currently a number of ships suspected of causing the oil

leak.If and when the ship that caused the contamination is found, and according to the state flag carrying the ship that caused it, the issue of monetary compensation will be closed between countries and a monetary compensation mechanism.

Will not sleep in the future.

The state that pays the compensation will surely claim compensation from the owners of the shipping company that caused the damage.

It remains only to hope that this language will end.

Accumulation of tar collected on beaches (Photo: GettyImages, Amir Levy)

Adv. Gil Harel (Photo: Yachz)

There is progress in the world as a whole as well as in the State of Israel in all treatment and awareness of environmental issues. The trend should be continued and legislation and enforcement should be promoted as well as creating common interests with neighboring countries to prevent such cases and unnecessary environmental pollution which causes irreversible damage to the coastal strip and seawater. The trends in the world are to create a better world and free from air pollution.

Finally, the question arises as to whether the authorities in the country could have known about the damage in advance in order to prevent it. In my opinion the state can not monitor every day 24/7 any ship that has also sailed out of the territorial waters of the state in case another incident happens in the future. Although following the case, satellite images were examined and apparently as a result, they discovered another oil slick that will not reach the shores of Israel at the moment, but this is not something in which reasonable budgets can be invested for daily monitoring.

The writer owns an office that deals with tort claims